@kim_h54

Leadership means different things to people; it can be an actual leadership role, just being a role model, or being able to motivate and help others. Being a leader means helping people and being someone people can go to for help and advice. I tried to embody this spirit every day of my life. It is well known in my classes and my friends that if anybody needs help that they can come to me. I routinely have peers come up to me after class and ask for help with tasks or study together because they know I am happy and willing to help them. Being resilient is a crucial quality to recovering and rebounding from challenges. I’ve tried to be resilient by attempting to take a positive perspective on situations and viewing challenges as learning opportunities. I’ve always endeavored to be resilient and not be pessimistic about situations because having a positive and growth mindset can change someone’s entire perspective. Being unselfish is an excellent quality for people to have, and there are many examples and ways to give back and be selfless, such as volunteering for your community. Besides volunteering, there are also everyday examples of being selfless. Every day I strive to help people, and while I may not be perfect, I try and always hold the door open for people, hold the elevator, always have a smile, and bake goods for family and friends. These may be little acts, but I believe even little acts of kindness can change someone’s day. Being focused and determined can transform a situation around. You can’t just hope that good things happen to you; you must be focused, determined, and put in the hard work to have great opportunities. I aim always to be focused on my life and school work. When I set my mind on something, I always get it done. For example, I wanted to graduate with my AA degree when I graduated high school, so I did the work, took the college classes, and made it happen. I graduated with my AA degree as well as my high school diploma at the same time. It is known that I have a strong work ethic with my professor and family members. One way that I display it is that while in high school, I was not only getting my high school diploma but also working on getting my Associate of Arts degree. I had the work ethic to graduate with my high school diploma and AA degree. It may have been hard, but I knew I could do it if I worked hard. My goals are to graduate with my bachelor’s degree in 2024 and then get my Master’s and a Ph.D. in Forensic Anthropology. My goal is to help give people who have died their voices back and tell their stories no matter how old. The reason why I am pursuing a degree is that I love learning. I love learning and growing, not just as a student or academic but also as a person, and pursuing a degree is a part of my journey. Another reason is that I am so passionate about my field of study; since the first time I heard about Forensic Anthropology, I knew that it was what I was meant to pursue. I knew that it was my calling and that the only way to achieve my dream of becoming a forensic anthropologist was to go to college and get a degree.

"I'm the one I should love in this world/ Shining me, precious soul of mine/ I finally realized so I love me/ Not so perfect but so beautiful/ I'm the one I should love/ I'm shaking and afraid but I keep going forward/ I'm meeting the real you, hidden in the storm/ Why did I want to hide my precious self like this?/ What was I so afraid of?/ Why did I hide my true self?" These are just some of the lyrics from K-pop group BTS's song Epiphany. The song's message is very obvious from the lyrics as well as the song title. When I first heard this song, I cried because the message hit me so viscerally. I had low self-esteem throughout much of my life and didn't love myself and these song lyrics helped me realize the downward spiral into depression and self-hate. This song helped pull me out of this spiral and start talking with people about my feelings and getting the help that I needed. This song quite literally saved my life. Beyond the change that this song has made in my life, I truly believe that this song could help more people. Music is such an intrinsic, powerful, important part of humans and society and truly can change lives, especially with such evocative lyrics and message. With the number of toxic messages and social media about what females' and males' bodies should look like or be, having a song about truly loving yourself and being who you truly are is so important.

Warm, cinnamon, and chocolatey-goodness; are some words to describe one of my favorite hobbies. I love baking; I love creating something with my hands and giving it to my loved ones. It makes me incredibly happy to share with my loved ones something that I made, such as a slice of cake, cookies, cupcakes, or something else. I love putting together different ingredients and seeing what it creates. It is interesting to me to see what other flavors I can create or what different dessert. Another hobby that I enjoy is reading; reading helps give me an outlet from reality. It is incredible that authors can create entirely new worlds by putting words on a page, and I love reading and experiencing these worlds they create. I love reading the worlds that these authors create and sharing the dynamic and complex characters that they make and the different scenarios and feelings they can evoke.